The Art of Rod Reis

As has been said many, many times (and not just on the Shrine), the original Aquaman art team of Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, and Rod Reis was one of the New 52's greatest innovations, bringing the Sea King to life in a way he hadn't seen in many, many years.

Even though colorists/color artists tend to get overshadowed, Rod really was a vital part of the collaboration which helped make Aquaman such a success--obviously DC thought so, since Rod went along with Ivan and Joe onto Justice League. Thankfully, he chose to stay on Aquaman, and the Shrine hopes that he will work his magic on the book for years to come.

If you've ever seen Rod at a convention, you might be surprised to learn he's a wonderful artist in his own right. So today we're presenting some of our favorite Rod Reis originals, along with some brief commentary from the man himself about his work:

The Aquaman Shrine: Did you read comics growing up?

Rod Reis: Yes, I always loved comics, I learned to read using comics, learned English using comics...they have been a very important part of my life since I was a kid.

TAS: How did you get into coloring comics?

RR: It's been almost ten years I do coloring for comics. When I started, I wanted to draw but when I decided to take a chance on learn coloring I realized I was very good at it. So I became one of the first color artists in Brazil.

TAS: What are some of your favorite moments working on Aquaman?

RR: Ivan did some awesome splash pages that made me very proud to work on.

TAS: You've moved onto Justice League along with Ivan Reis and Joe Prado. Is coloring a book with so many regular characters a lot more work?

RR: Yes, when we work on a team book we make more team splashes where every hero has to shine. When I colored Aquaman, it was easy to make just him pop up, now I have Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, each one with a particular color palette.

TAS: Can you give some insight on how you color a comic? What kind of materials and/or tools do you use?

RR: First I read the script to get an idea of mood, then I give the page to my flatter (in this case my wife) that starts coloring using flat colors. After that I start adding shadows and lights to the art all with Photoshop. It's very important to the colorist give an immersive experience to the reader using all knowledge about color theory.

TAS: On average how long does it take you to color a page?

RR: Something between four hours and eight, depending on the amount of details and characters.

TAS: Tell us about the new creator-owned comic project you're involved in!

RR: It's a Kyle Higgins creator-owned project. After we met during my time coloring Nightwing we started working together on this project which is based on his short film The League. We don't know yet how it's gonna be published, but we might have all pages done by the end of the year.

TAS: Looking forward to it. Thanks Rod!


If you want to see more of Rod's work, check out his DeviantArt page. And if you see him at a comic con, be sure to pick up a print or two of his work, you won't regret it. And tell him The Aquaman Shrine sent you!